1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to protective masking materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-layer pad of preformed protective masking material and a method for making the same.
2. Discussion
The finish of a new vehicle is often regarded as one of the most significant characteristics of a vehicle. When the finish of an exterior or interior component is unblemished and attractive, the vehicle owner is likely to be influenced as to the quality of the vehicle in a positive manner. Conversely, when the finish is blemished as when dirty, scraped, scuffed or marred, the owner is more likely to complain to the vehicle dealer and attribute a lack of quality to the vehicle generally. Accordingly, vehicle manufacturers have expended vast resources to improve the finish of the vehicle exterior and interior components.
One area in which the vehicle manufacturers have focused their efforts relates to the materials and processes for finishing the vehicle exterior and interior components. Vast amounts of money have been expended to research and develop improved materials, processes and equipment for producing a component with an improved finish.
While the efforts undertaken on this front have significantly eliminated defects associated with the creation of the finish on the vehicle exterior and interior components, other complaints relating to the finish of these components, such as abrasions and marring, have markedly increased. Analysis of this result shows that these complaints are not new failure modes but rather a shift in the primary failure mode. Stated another way, these failure modes have always been present, but were usually accompanied with more significant failure modes (e.g., a paint finish having pops or orange peel) or simply went unreported. Modern consumers no longer tolerate these failure modes and vehicle manufacturers have been burdened with substantial costs to repair the finish of components exhibiting these failure modes.
Further analysis shows that an almost infinite number of sources may contribute to any one failure mode. For example, the finish of an exterior component may be damaged at any point in the vehicle supply process beginning with the point at which the component is finished to the point at which the vehicle is delivered to the customer. Examples of the points at which the finish of the component may be damaged therefore include loading the component into a stock rack, transporting the component to a vehicle assembly line, unloading the component from a stock rack, assembling the component to a vehicle, processing the vehicle through the assembly line, transporting the vehicle to a dealer, and storing the vehicle on the lot of the dealer. Those skilled in the art should realize that the above are broad categories encompassing an almost infinite number of variables which contribute to a failure mode. For example, in assembling the component to a vehicle, the finish of the component may be damaged when the component is rubbed against another object, such as a tool the assembly technician is carrying, the belt buckle of the assembly technician, a portion of a vehicle, the floor or a portion of the conveyance equipment which transports the vehicle down an assembly line.
Given the numerous variables which would have to be controlled to eliminate a failure mode, as well as the difficulty and cost associated with the implementation of such pervasive control measures, vehicle manufacturers have resorted to the use of protective masks, usually a self-adhesive film, to protect various vehicle components until the time at which the vehicle is delivered to the consumer. The material for these masks is typically supplied to various manufacturing and assembly areas in a bulk roll, with a technician using scissors to manually cut an appropriately shaped mask from the roll. While this strategy has made modest progress in reducing the costs associated with the repair of the finish of various vehicle components, several drawbacks have been noted.
One such drawback concerns the amount of labor expended to produce a mask and the tooling used to form the mask. The labor cost of the mask is extremely high as the process is completely manual, thus adding significant cost to the masking process and requiring vehicle manufacturers to forego masking of certain components where repair and warranty costs are sufficiently high. Furthermore, as scissors are primarily used to form the masks, the risk that the technicians forming the mask will be injured (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome) can be significant on high-volume assembly lines.
Another drawback concerns the sizing of the mask to a component. As the process of forming the mask is completely manual, the process lacks precision and repeatability. Consequently, a technician may produce masks which are too small in certain areas and/or too large in other areas. Masks that are too small in certain areas leave the component susceptible to damage. Masks that are too large in certain areas may overhang the component, at best providing the vehicle with an unsightly appearance and at worst, interfere with the installation and/or functioning of other vehicle components. It is worthy of noting that since vehicle manufacturers supply the mask intending it to remain in place until the vehicle has been sold and prepared for receipt by a consumer, the mask is on the vehicle while the vehicle is displayed on a dealer""s lot. As such, the appearance of the mask may influence the decision of the consumer.
In practice, many technicians attempt to trim masks to a desired size or shape with sharp instruments after the mask has been installed to a component. In addition to being time consuming, often times the component suffers more extensive damage from this trimming process than if the component had gone unprotected altogether.
Another disadvantage of manually forming the mask concerns the ability of a technician to nest masks together in a manner which conserves the film material. Given that many of the film materials suitable for these masks are relatively expensive, the waste involved with manual cutting adds a significant amount of cost to the masking process.
In view of the drawbacks associated with manually cutting bulk film to form masks, manufacturers of the bulk film material have responded by providing film materials which have been perforated in lines running in a lateral direction perpendicular to the length of the roll. The lines of perforations are spaced apart at regular intervals and permit a technician to remove a square or rectangular strip of film for a roll. Unfortunately, very few masking applications require a mask that is square or rectangular in shape. Consequently, this material fails to overcome many of the drawbacks associated with the bulk unperforated material.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a protective material which may be employed to mask a component in a convenient and efficient manner.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a protective material for masking a component which is configured in the form of a multi-layer pad.
It is another specific object of the present invention to provide a protective material for masking a component which is formed to a predetermined contour to protect a component.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a multi-layer pad of protective material.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a multi-layer pad of protective material which is formed to a predetermined contour to protect a component.
A multi-layer pad of a protective material and a method for constructing the same is provided. The pad includes a lower layer and at least one upper layer, all of which are shaped to a predetermined contour. The lower layer is formed from a first material having a first surface with adhesive properties and a second surface having either no adhesive properties or a substantially reduced level of adhesive properties.
Each of the upper layers include a mask portion formed from the first material and identical to the lower layer, and a release tab portion formed from a second material. The second material has at least one surface with a relatively low surface energy which substantially inhibits the surface from adhering to the first surface of the first material. In each of the upper layers, a portion of the second material is partially superimposed over the first material such that the low energy surface of the second material contacts the first surface of the first material.
The multi-layer pad is constructed by superimposing a first upper layer over the lower layer such that a portion of the first surface of the first material forming part of the first upper layer contacts the second surface of the first material forming the lower layer. The second material prevents the first upper layer from completely adhering to the lower layer and permits the layers to be readily separated. Additional upper layers constructed in an identical manner to that of the first upper layer may be superimposed over the uppermost layer of the pad to achieve a multi-layer pad of protective material having a desired number of preshaped protective masks.
Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.